New Orleans Pelicans: The 6 Best Players Taken with the 13th Pick

The New Orleans Pelicans can get a great player with the 13th pick.

The New Orleans Pelicans‘ streak of lottery luck ended, and they are stuck with the 13th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, as there have been some great players taken with that pick. Guys like Sleepy Floyd, Dale Davis, Jalen Rose, Richard Jefferson and Markieff Morris, role players who were key contributors on winning teams.

There have also been plenty of busts, too many to count really, including the New Orleans Pelicans’ own 13th pick of Julian Wright in 2007.

Most of the players taken at 13 fall into the same category as Wright, guys who have potential, some physical tools but also some glaring flaws.

The back half of the lottery is traditionally either guys who are role players coming into the league, or guys who have huge unrealized potential waiting to be untapped.

Such is the case for the six best players taken at pick 13, as most of them were guys with high ceilings and low floors, or just players who for whatever reason slipped in the draft.

Most of the success with the 13th pick has been recent, which should give the New Orleans Pelicans hope that they can find impact talent at the back end of the lottery.

We started looking at drafts in 1979, as the modern NBA didn’t really start until Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joined the league, though Jack Kiley from the 1951 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons did get some consideration.

We’re going to start with the most recent picks first, but end with two All-Time greats that should give the Pelicans some optimism for their 13th pick.